


Tripartite

by epsilonAbsol, OneBecomesTwo



Series: The Ravioverse [4]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, LinkedUniverse - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Angst, Gen, Ravioverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2020-09-03 07:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20261794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epsilonAbsol/pseuds/epsilonAbsol, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneBecomesTwo/pseuds/OneBecomesTwo
Summary: In the era of the Hero of Time, Hyrule's sister world was having a crisis of its own: spacial distortions that drew together three parallel versions of the same Lorule. The kingdom called upon a hero who would work alongside himself from the other dimensions in order to fix those distortions and protect the Sacred Realm from becoming entirely unguarded.A shame that many adventures are doomed to fail.





	1. Which Way the Wind Blows

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so nobody really asked for this, but I wanted to write it, so I did. You wanted a more concrete reason than that? Absolutely Not, you're in MY domain now
> 
> If you don't know what Ravioverse is, you find a basic rundown of everything [here](https://ravioverse.tumblr.com/post/186529889899/ravioverse). Keep in mind though, some of the Ravios have different nicknames at different times.
> 
> Viola = Frost  
Space = Blaze  
Flow = Gust
> 
> As always thank u and god bless u Velia for doing edits on this thing
> 
> I hope you enjoy this no-context-yet look at Viola of Space, our Ocarina of Time-era story from Lorule!

Viola wasn’t stressed.

Really, he wasn’t. Why should he be? He’d only just learned that the most elusive member of their group just so happened to be the youngest. He didn’t need to worry about a fifteen year old boy who regularly disappeared into the landscape with nothing but a magic cape and a longbow to protect himself.

“ ‘Hoy, Viola,” Compass called, his voice cutting through the darkness. When he glanced over, Viola saw the pirate propped up on his elbow, scowling with his brow knit and mouth turned down in a frown. “I know Empyrean’s out in the forest someplace yelling his angry little heart out, but could you worry _ any _ louder?”

“I- Wh- I wasn’t even _ saying _ anything!”

“But you’re _ sighing _ every ten seconds,” Compass refuted, an audible eye-roll in his tone. “It’s _ distracting, _ and _ I’m _ used to sleeping on a _ boat.” _

“I am not!” Viola defended, his voice rising in pitch slightly. “I am breathing _ perfectly normally _ because I’m _ not worrying.” _

“Oh, for the goddess’ sake, Viola, _ shut the fuck up! _ I’m trying to sleep!”

“Origin’s only _ fifteen-” _

“And I’m sixteen! He’ll be fine!” Compass rolled over, turning his back to the slowly dying campfire. For emphasis - which Viola thought was completely unnecessary - he took a stray scrap of cloth and bundled it over his ear, keeping it in place with an arm pressed against it.

He scowled at Compass’ back, mumbling under his breath about how he didn’t know what he was talking about and that he wasn’t _ worried _. A pointed grunt from across the campfire only made Viola frown deeper, but he fell silent, resting his chin on his hand as he tried not to think about a young boy, lost and alone in the forest with no simple means of finding help if he needed it.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t succeed. The oppressive silence made him painfully aware of every distant sound: a wolfos howling in the distance, keese screeching from above, leaves rustling as beasts stalk through the shadows - all things that could threaten Origin at any moment. He kept preparing himself to hear a panicked voice screaming over everything else, but it never came.

Instead, a twig snapping nearby broke the silence. Viola’s head whipped around as the oldest of their small group returned to the campsite, holding the Sovereign Rod in one hand like a torch against the night, and a bundle of wood in the other. Viola watched him add more fuel to the fire in silence for a few minutes before whispering, “Did you find Origin at all while you were out there?”

Empyrean hardly paused what he was doing as he responded, “Should I have been looking for him?”

Right. That was a stupid question. Empyrean was the one who was allowing Origin to remain away from the group, so of course he wouldn’t be actively looking for him. “Ah… no, I guess not,” Viola said, trying the best he could to sound nonchalant. He began tapping his fingers against his leg - _ not _ nervously, no matter what anyone else might say; it was only something for his hands to be doing and that was _ all. _ “I was just curious.”

As Viola spoke, Empyrean got to his feet and revived the fire with a tiny burst of magic, then sent him a quizzical look before understanding seemed to dawn on his face. “Right,” Empyrean started, sounding like he didn’t quite believe him, but wasn’t going to outright call him on it. He buried the end of the Sovereign Rod in the dirt next to a fallen log, allowing him to have free hands while the rod would continue to produce light. As he sat down, he asked, “And you expect me to believe that your curiosity has nothing to do with the conversation we had earlier?”

“Of _ course _ it does!” Viola’s tone was strangled and desperate, trying to keep his voice down and failing miserably, even as he continued to speak. “He’s a _ child, _ and you’re just _ okay _ with leaving him by _ himself?” _ He shook his head, looking down to his hands, “He should be here. We can keep him safe if he’s with us.

Empyrean sighed, and barely within a second indignation surged within Viola, his knuckles turning white from how tightly his fists clenched into themselves. He was _ right, _ dammit! How _ dare _ Empyrean brush off his concern like he was _ overreacting! _ Origin was just a _ child! _ Barely even fifteen years old; he’s small, thin, completely _ alone. _ Wasn’t Empyrean supposed to be a _ father? _Where did he get the _gall _t-

“I'd prefer if he stayed with us too."

Viola’s furious line of thought was completely derailed by the simple admission, his mouth hanging open dumbly before he managed to pull himself together and stumble out a strained, _ “Then why do you just-” _

“Because he doesn’t like crowds,” Empyrean explained. “There might only be four of us so far, but that’s three more people than what he’s used to. I know you want to protect him, but there’s not much we can do to _ make _him stay close. He told me before that he’s used to worse conditions than this. Something about demons, I don’t know; but either way, we have to trust that he can take care of himself, and that if he needs us, he’ll come ask.”

Viola slouched where he was sitting, very obviously still not a fan of the idea that one of their own would be out of immediate reach, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. “You should get some sleep,” Empyrean suggested, trying to sound comforting. “You’ve had a lot on your mind. Some rest should help. We can check up on Origin in the morning, if that puts you more at ease.”

“I guess…” Viola muttered, staring at the ground for a moment. “Wake me up if anything happens?”

“Yeah. I’ll let you know.”

Viola exhaled a quick, “Thanks,” before gathering his things together so he could try to sleep with slightly more comfort than he would on the bare ground. When he finally settled and closed his eyes, he could feel a soft breeze at his back, cooling the parts of his skin not warmed by the flickering flames of the campfire, and listened as the leaves of the nearby trees rustled in the wind.

Hours passed, or maybe minutes; what was once gentle and soothing turned icy and harsh; he didn’t need to open his eyes to know he was no longer laying down in the grass beside a steadily crackling fire. The sound of distant music echoed in his ears; three string instruments harmonizing together, sending chills down his spine far more frigid than the air around him.

He knew where he was.

A bluish-gray stone building with ice-covered floors and massive icicles hanging precariously from the ceiling. A large, hexagonal room with the remains of a large, iron-clad beast at its center. The great purple and silver door that had closed behind him when he’d entered had re-opened by the power of the Sage of Ice, who was now taking refuge in the Sacred Realm.

Oh yes, he knew _ precisely _ where he was.

“Frost,” a painfully familiar voice said, breaking into Viola’s thoughts. “Frost, we need to go. We’ve freed the sage, let’s get out of here before the song ends.”

_ ‘No,' _Viola thought, his eyes opening against his will. _ ‘No, not this place, no!’ _His first sight was like looking in a doubled mirror. Two other boys, no older than thirteen, with the same violet hair, the same facial features, and the same clothes that he wore standing before him; but Viola knew them. He knew them both as he knew himself.

Blaze looked as determined as ever, standing near the door with his bow slung over his shoulder and the Garnet Rod alight with fire magic to keep the chill at bay. He had a certain confidence in his posture that Viola hadn't seen in years - since that very temple, in fact - and the memory of exactly _ how _ they had last parted filled his chest with old, _ old _ guilt.

Gust, on the other hand, was simply _ present _ . With his child-sized sword strapped to his back, he was so young, so innocent, and was looking at Viola's dream-self with such concern that he, frankly, didn't feel he deserved. _ ‘It’s not me that you need to be worried about,’ _Viola wanted to say, but what came out of his mouth was, “You’re right. Let’s go.”

The Ice Temple was quiet as they backtracked. Blaze had taken the lead, so the Garnet Rod could illuminate the path more than the dim torches along the walls; Viola was in the center, and Gust at the back. In his dream, he felt safe from any sort of attack, but Viola’s heart was pounding and his mind was racing. He couldn’t control his own body, only watch as they walked further through the ice-gray halls and the bluish shimmer of magic danced in the firelight.

They passed one unlocked door with a lit torch next to it. Another, with a distant switch weighed down by a block of ice. A third, with a slowly spinning fan above it. Each had been opened and explored by Blaze, Viola, or Gust, and despite the fact that each chamber could only be entered by the one who had unlocked the door, all had been thoroughly explored before they’d even gone to fight the monster at the heart of the temple. There hadn’t been a single locked room when they’d finally unlocked the massive door to the sanctum - Viola had been certain of it - but yet they still passed _ one _ strange door with a motionless fan above it as they journeyed out.

One room that Viola had never seen the inside of, save for the briefest glimpse of a pool of water just beyond the entrance, but couldn’t possibly have been a part of the Ice Temple. Viola had studied the map afterward, time and time again, and there was no sign of a door - let alone a room - in that area. It had the same designs carved into it as everything else in the temple, but it was thin and rectangular, like normal doors in Castle Town, with a knob and everything. The only apparent locking mechanism was the thick metal bars extending from the floor to the ceiling, the key being the light purple fan above the door frame.

As they backtracked through the temple, that out-of-place room caught Gust’s eye, and a bone-chilling sentence echoed in Viola’s ears.

“Wait a second,” Gust said innocently, “I don’t remember this being here. I want to check it out real quick.”

_ ‘NO!’ _ Viola’s mind screamed, but even in a dream, he was helpless to stop Gust from using the Amethyst Rod to open the door, and even more so to stop the door from slamming shut behind him. All he could do was stand there, just as casually as he had when he’d _ truly _ been in the Ice Temple, until everything went wrong.

The first sign was the music. One of the instruments came to a horrible, screeching halt, and the balance that the three had found together began to fall apart. Viola and Blaze shared a horrified glance, before Blaze was tearing off towards the door that Gust had disappeared behind, frantically banging on the stone and desperately crying out, _ “Gust! Gust, are you okay? What’s going on?” _

The bluish sheen that coated the interior of the temple wavered, as did Blaze’s entire body from Viola’s perspective. He felt a wave of disgust with himself as he lurched forward and grabbed his twin’s arm. “We have to go! Space is destabilizing again, we need to get out of here before we get trapped too!”

Blaze tore his arm out of Viola’s grasp and twisted on his heel to glare at him with contempt. “Gust is _ still in there!” _ He yelled, sounding appalled at the suggestion that they would _ leave _ their brother - a feeling that Viola shared now that he had the wisdom of hindsight.

“I know!” Viola shouted, frustrated with his own helplessness even back then. “But we can’t get him out! I don’t want to leave him anymore than you do, but if we don’t get out of here, Lorule is _ doomed!” _

Blaze looked at Viola like he was in pain, then back at the door, and Viola’s dream-self grabbed his brother’s arm again, dragging Blaze behind him as they started running. The bluish magic that was superimposed over the walls began slowly pulsing red, and beneath the red light the true appearance of the temple was revealed. Crumbling walls that absolutely could _ not _ support a stone ceiling, strange fissures in the floor that led to nowhere - both things that they had been protected from by the power of the Viola of Space, but now its protection was waning. Viola almost lost his grip on Blaze’s arm as he briefly blinked out of _ Viola’s _ reality, and he almost tripped into one of the fissures as he _ nearly _ jolted to a stop, but the magic returned - just as briefly as it had disappeared - before either of them could fall.

The song ended just as the two reached the Ice Temple's entrance, and Blaze's body blinked out of existence one final time, as did the image of the second viola. Viola’s dream-self lurched forward to catch the Viola of Space before it could crash to the ground, and almost immediately began the familiar motions of playing it. He could feel Blaze playing it too; the song that allowed the three of them to communicate with each other across dimensions– but this time there was no response from Gust. Both of them tried time and time again, but it didn't take long for Viola to know, in his heart of hearts, that it was futile.

_'He's gone,' _Viola thought miserably to himself. _ 'I left him behind.' _


	2. Without Rime or Reason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh. Quick trigger warning here: Depressive thoughts are a big thing in this one so if you're sensitive to that kind of thing, be warned its there.
> 
> Anyway, this bad boys been in the works for a Hot While but now's the right time to post it. Read safely and enjoy my dudes.

Ravio didn't like the road to Romani Ranch.

It wasn't that he disliked going there - not at all. He actually didn’t mind being there ever since he found himself recruited to defend the cattle every year. The reason _ was, _however, that the high, sheer slopes that formed the tunnel-like Milk Road brought back memories he'd prefer to forget. Memories of a labyrinthine structure, illuminated by odd, bluish light from where the sky should be, and too-still trees casting eerie shadows wherever they stood.

Of course, it didn't help that every time he entered Termina Field, the sudden openness often filled him with such a deep dread that he found himself taking the long way back home. Yes, he _could_ walk straight to the observatory from the ranch, but that would take him _far_ too close to the swamp. He didn’t know what kind of forest spirits lived in there, but he wasn’t going to risk angering them by going anywhere _near_ it.

His detour through Clock Town didn’t bother him though. Honestly, it probably made Anju and Kafei happy that he stopped by to see them every time he went. He knew that Anju worried about him when she hadn’t seen him in a while, especially since she’d seen what bad shape he’d been in when he first arrived in Termina. She had kids of her own now, but that didn’t stop her from trying to mother him too.

He’d grown accustomed to a certain routine whenever he made the longer-than-necessary journey, so when he saw Kafei talking to a relatively large group of people, he stopped short. The unexpected change to routine was jarring enough, but a sense of apprehension began creeping up on him when he saw that each and every one of them had purple hair, much like his own.

Part of him wanted to believe that maybe they were just distant relatives of Kafei, who’d come to visit him and they just hadn’t bothered mentioning it to him when he’d come through town a few days prior; but there wasn’t much resemblance other than the vaguely similar colored hair. The too-familiar green and gold staff strapped to one of the visitors’ backs, however, made him _ know _ otherwise.

Behind his mask, a prickling, phantom burning sensation spread across his face, and nausea churned in his stomach. Obviously, that was when Kafei noticed him standing there.

“Ravio!” He called, raising a hand to wave him over. “These boys say they’ve been looking for you, do you know them?”

The group turned to look at him, and he’d never been more thankful that his mask covered the majority of his face than he was right then. They were staring at him. _ All _ of them - but only one stood out above the rest, his shocked expression mirroring the one on Ravio’s own. He never thought he’d _ ever _ see that face again, and seeing it now sent his heart rate into overdrive. Rage, guilt, despair - those and a thousand other complicated, confusing feelings swirled in his head, and the burning feeling on his face felt as if it were only growing stronger and stronger.

“Blaze?” Frost asked, sounding like he didn’t dare hope that it was _ really _who he thought it was. The hesitance in his voice made every muscle in Ravio's body tense, shaking slightly as angry and indignant words were trapped behind his tightly clenched jaw; but those words died unspoken as the staff on one of the others’ back caught the light and his eye once again. The crushing guilt returned all at once, and it was only a matter of seconds before he found that it became too much to bear.

He couldn’t do this. He needed to get out of there. _ Now_.

Ravio stumbled back a step or two, shaking his head wordlessly - though his one visible eye was surely wide enough that it answered _ both _ questions. Frost looked about to approach him further, but Ravio jerked back, his vision tunneling as he mechanically raced to the one place he could reliably feel safe.

Though he'd made the journey a thousand times, suddenly the moss-covered walls of the sewer path became those of a temple, overgrown with vines and distorted by the roots of old trees. He tripped and stumbled his way through, slower than he would have liked with his pants bogged down by water that he wasn’t entirely aware of, and the persistent nightmarish feeling of needing to _ flee _intensifying with each passing second spent too long in the humid corridor. 

The sound of splashing water bounced off of the walls. It came from everywhere - before, behind, at his sides. Something was chasing him. He could hear its steps behind his own, so it _ must _ be, and if he wasn’t fast enough he’d be run through-

The telltale sound of a skulltula’s descent suddenly echoed in his ears. Ravio lurched to the side, ramming an elbow into the hard stone wall, but avoiding the monster. He ignored it - both the pain and the skulltula. Getting away from the _ thing _ that was surely still chasing him was a _ much _ greater priority. He just needed to get _ out of this tunnel. _

Muscle memory alone was what allowed him to avoid crashing into another wall - the one that led up to the basement of the observatory. He barely registered climbing up the ladder and getting to his feet to race inside, only to trip halfway up the stairs before he ran out of energy and collapsed, breathing heavily from exertion and panic.

He closed his eyes, shakily propping himself up on his forearms, and removed his mask, setting it aside as he pressed his fists into his eyes. It was hard to ignore the brightness that glowed through his hand and eyelids, but how could he forget it at all? It was just another reminder of how much of a failure he was.

* * *

The Earth Temple should have felt like home. He’d grown up in the Cerevell Forest, was raised by the Great Leima Stag himself, so even though he’d never been there, the temple shouldn’t have felt _ threatening _ . Not _ really. _

Perhaps it was the new, jarring reality of a silent realm created by a duo rather than a trio, or the fact that Frost had seemed more impatient and irritable ever since they’d left the ice temple, but everything just seemed _ wrong _ about being there. Blaze hadn’t seen the Leima Stag since he’d sent him off to find the Garnet Rod and meet Frost and Gust, and he’d _ assumed _ that they would get his help finding their way through the winding halls of the temple.

Instead, when they reached the heart, Frost and Blaze were confronted with a massive, octagonal space, enclosed by the walls of the maze that led them there. At the center was their guardian, the Leima Stag, his formerly verdant antlers now covered with spores and fungi. Blaze hadn’t wanted to believe that they would have to fight their _ guardian, _but Frost began brandishing the Topaz Rod the moment he set eyes on him, and the blue flame it produced drew the forest god’s attention directly to them.

During the fight, Blaze had hesitated to use the Garnet Rod. He hadn’t wanted to risk burning his _ guardian _ to ashes along with the rest of the temple, so he’d let Frost handle the magic and only provided backup with his bow. His arrows found their way into the stag’s legs - nothing that would be lethal on its own, but certainly slowed his movement. Since the Great Leima Stag was, however, the guardian spirit of the whole forest, he wasn’t slowed for long. Frost took advantage of Blaze’s attacks to send wave after wave of freezing cold magic at the mushrooms growing on the spirit’s body.

By some miracle, they managed to subdue him _ without _ killing him. The twins spoke to the sage and got her to safety, but then Frost turned to leave, _ long _ before the song seemed ready to end. It was the first time that they hadn’t run out of time while trying to complete their mission, and something still felt wrong to Blaze. It felt too _ easy. _ Blaze hadn't yet shouldered his bow when he called, "Frost, wait."

His twin turned to look at him, impatience clear in his eyes as he snapped, "What?"

"Shouldn't we check on the Leima Stag before we go? He's not dead. If we can help him, we _ should." _ Blaze didn't understand how that _ wasn't _ his first instinct. That was their _ guardian _ lying in front of them, not just some beast that met its unfortunate end at their hands.

He understood even less when Frost responded with voice rising in frustration, "We don't have _ time _ for that, Blaze! We need to get out of here and get back to Lorule Castle before the king makes his decision! Or else, you know, _ the Triforce gets destroyed?" _ Frost shook his head. "He'll be _ fine_. If he was awake, he'd tell us the same thing."

Blaze _ bristled_, "And how do you know that? You're just rushing forward without thinking, and _ now _ you're trying to leave the Leima Stag behind without even checking on him! You know who would be telling you to _ slow down a minute?" _

Frost grit his teeth as he started, _ "Don't-" _

_"GUST!" _Blaze roared, ignoring him. "But _nooo,_ _YOU_ decided that we needed to _leave_ more than we needed to _help_ him! And now you're doing the same thing to the closest thing we had to a _FATHER!"_

"I'm trying to keep our _ world _ safe!" Frost defended, though the guilty look on his face made it clear that Blaze had struck a nerve. "I thought _ you _ were trying to be a hero too, but I guess _ you're _too busy stopping for every little thing to be an effective one!"

"How can you call helping _ the guardian of the Cerevell Forest _ ‘every little thing?’ Do _ you _ know what will happen if he dies? _ Or _ if he gets sick like that again?”

“Do _ you?” _ Frost shot right back, looking even more frustrated with that line of questioning than before. “Blaze, we don’t have a _ choice _ here! We need to go _ now! _ We can come back and figure out what’s going on with him _ after _we talk to the princess!”

“I’m _ not _going to just leave him here!”

“Fine! Waste your _ own _ time then! _ I’m _ leaving.” Before Blaze could even get another word out, Frost stormed back to the entrance to the rest of the Earth Temple.

_ “FINE! _ Leave then! Abandon your _ whole family, _ why don’t you?” Blaze stood there at the mouth of the corridor, shoulders tensed and ready for a fight that didn’t come. His shouts were met with no response, and the prolonged silence quickly began weighing heavily on his nerves. Some part of him wanted to storm after Frost and _ make _ him stay, but his legs felt rooted to the spot.

A few moments later, the blue light of the silent realm flashed out of existence, and everything returned to the natural greens and grays of the forest.

As much as the soft, dappled shade should have reminded Blaze of simpler times - before he’d found the Garnet Rod - it only made it sink in that Frost truly _ had _ left. He was alone, just like he had been as a child, but now he wasn’t alone in the peaceful Cerevell Forest. Now he was in the heart of the Earth Temple, and would need to find his way out _ on his own; _ and without the magic of the Violas, who knew what kind of dangers might be hiding in the labyrinth?

Cursing his twin’s selfishness under his breath, he almost missed the quiet rustling of the Leima Stag beginning to move again. Blaze turned around just in time to see his guardian getting to his feet, eyes closed like it was paining him to do so. 

“Stop!” He called, immediately setting aside his frustration with his twin to rush to the stag’s side. “Don’t move too much, you’ll hurt yourself!”

Suddenly, with the same wild fury that they’d had when he attacked the heroes initially, the Great Leima Stag’s eyes snapped open. Blaze skidded to a stop, stunned that his guardian hadn’t returned to his serene, gentle self, and that, before he knew it, he was charging at him once again; antlers _ low _ and _ sharp. _

Blaze barely had time to jump out of the way, and looked on with horrified eyes as the stag turned in preparation of charging again. His mind raced, trying to think of a plan of action, but that certainly was _ not _ his strong suit. He didn’t want to use the Garnet Rod, but drawing his bow and nocking an arrow would take far too long, and he didn’t have Frost to create a distraction for him this time. 

Taking the rod in his hand and preparing to jump out of the raging spirit’s path once again, he cried, “What are you _ doing?_ Great Leima Stag, it’s _ me!” _

If the stag heard him, he showed no sign of it aside from simply charging again, and Blaze lurched out of the way just in time. Blaze fell to his hands and knees, pebbles digging into his knuckles as he tried not to lose his grip on the Garnet Rod; the forest’s guardian thundered past, sending dirt and grass flying into the air while harsh divots were left in his wake. The sound of a massive body colliding with the wall shook Blaze to his core, but it only stunned the Great Stag for a moment. Blaze hastily got to his feet, the flame at the end of the Garnet Rod burst to life, and coughed against the cloud of spores that were released by the impact.

“Please don’t make me do this! I don’t want to fight you!” Again, the Lord of the Forest charged, but this time Blaze was too close. If he was going to move, he would either find himself trampled by hooves or gored by antlers, and he couldn’t make a decision quickly enough. He barely managed to raise the Garnet Rod to block the antlers from crashing into him before he was being pushed back into a wall, the old stone digging into his shoulders uncomfortably.

The only sounds were the grunts of exertion as Blaze attempted to fend off the attack long enough to slip out, but the guardian of the forest wasn’t going to move just because of a simple shove. Spores from the mushrooms growing on the stag’s body continued to cloud the air, and Blaze held his breath as he pushed back more and more desperately.

_ CRACK._

For a moment, Blaze thought it might have been the stag’s antlers, damaged and snapping under the pressure that he was putting on them. But then there was another crack, then another, and _ another_, and glowing fracture marks running jagged and brilliant began to appear around the center of the Garnet Rod. Horror dawned on him, and he barely had time to turn his head away before the sound of splintering wood filled his ears and a blinding light filled his vision.

It felt like an eternity before the light died down enough for him to see again - and even then it only faded from his left side. The Great Stag was crumpled again, antlers cracked and damaged with the magical force that had just struck them, but the most horrifying sight was in Blaze’s hands.

The Garnet Rod - one third of the legendary Sovereign Rod - in two pieces, with splintered ends right down the middle.

* * *

Blaze couldn’t breathe. He was taking short, shuddering breaths and was pushing the heel of his hand into his right eye, like it would make the sharp, burning pain go away. He could feel something hot and wet on his face, but he wasn’t about to pull his hand away to see whether it was blood or only tears.

Then he heard the door open.

His chest tightened sharply, and a prickling sensation crawled across his back as someone entered. Some part of him screamed to move, that the intruder might attack him while his back was turned; the rest of him insisted that he stay put. If they wanted to kill him, let them.

If he hadn't been crying already, then he certainly felt new tears well up when he heard Anju’s voice call out, “Ravio?” And then, likely following the sound of his short gasps for air, she repeated, though more softly, “Oh, Ravio…” 

Anju descended the steps, taking a seat on the one just below him. Her hands took his wrists and, despite a moment of resistance, gently pulled them away from his face.

She looked worried, but of course she did. She always had– even six years ago, when she'd found him collapsed near the clock tower, babbling about deer spirits and failure. Now, he could see the same faint glow reflecting on her face and in the corner of his eye, and it was only Anju's hold on his wrists that kept him from putting his mask back on and hiding behind it once again. She looked at him with the same compassion she did when her _ actual _ children cried, and asked, "What happened? Do you know those people?"

"I-I…" The words stuck in his throat, feeling thick and difficult, especially when he was still struggling to get air.

"It's alright, Ravio," she said, hushing him. "Breathe with me for a moment, then tell me. Don't worry about those people- Kafei will keep them away as long as you need. We'll go back when you're ready, or you can stay here, alright?" 

Blaze nodded wordlessly, feeling sick at the thought of returning and seeing Frost _ again, _ but… He wanted to tell Anju. After seeing him like this, he knew she wouldn't stop worrying over him until he told her, and the last thing Blaze wanted was to be the reason Anju was distracted from her _ real _ family.

It took him several minutes of following Anju's directions, but he eventually calmed down enough to stammer out, "He- One of those people… He's my brother." His eye flicked up to Anju's face, seeing her surprise and confusion, prompting him to continue, "We didn't really… part on good terms, last time we saw each other. That's why I never mentioned him before."

She was quiet for a moment, then mused, "Well, that certainly explains why he looked so much like you." Blaze nodded absently, thinking about how he _ possibly _ would have gotten there after so long, but then Anju asked, "Does he have anything to do with what happened to your eye?"

His eye. His right eye - the side closest to the Garnet Rod when it had broken in two - which now glowed like a tiny sun, with similarly glowing scars spidering across much of his face. The biggest reminder of his failure, which hadn't faded in the six years he'd been in Termina and which he was convinced would _ never _ fade. It was a natural assumption to make, that Frost had something to do with the scars; but the question made guilt sink like a stone in his stomach yet again, and he couldn't make himself look her in the eyes anymore. His gaze dropped to his knees and his voice to a whisper as he admitted, "No. That was all my fault."

Silence stretched between them for a few moments, which Blaze would realize later might have been an invitation to continue, but eventually Anju broke it by saying, "I'm sure there's more to it than you're telling me now, but I'm also sure that that's not true. Whatever is making you so guilty that it's eating you alive even now could _ not _ be your fault alone."

If he hadn't felt incapable of doing so, Blaze might have laughed at that, but instead he only felt numb. Those words didn't bring him any comfort, not from someone who didn't know the full story. Not from someone who didn't know how far the consequences of his failure would reach.

She must have noticed Blaze beginning to drift from her, since a moment later, she released his wrists and shifted to sit on the stair next to him. She pulled him into her arms and said, "I'm sorry you've gone through all this by yourself. If I knew what I could do to help, I would in a _ second." _

"You help more than most," Blaze mumbled lamely, exhaustion starting to replace the panicked urgency he'd felt before.

"And I'd do more if I could," Anju insisted.

The two of them stayed like that for a moment, his cheek pressed into her shoulder in an almost comfortable silence, while she kept her arms secured around him. He wasn’t entirely convinced that her embrace was helping much, but it at least was a physical anchor that kept him from getting lost in traumatic memories again.

Eventually though, Anju pulled away and asked, "Do you want to go back? It might do you good to confront whatever problems you have with your brother rather than let them continue to hang between you."

Blaze bit the inside of his cheek, fighting back an instinctual _ 'NO.' _ He wanted to avoid this. He'd avoided it for this long, why shouldn't he continue? But, of course, Anju was right. Now that Frost was here - and, more importantly, knew that _ Blaze _ was here - there could be no more avoiding it. If Blaze didn't go on his own terms, Frost would simply show up on _ his. _

He nodded, surely looking like he was about to vomit, and began reaching for his mask, but felt like he was moving through syrup.

"It's alright,” Anju said, “I have it. Come on now, I'll help you up," and offered him a hand.

He still felt like he was walking two steps behind himself, but Anju supported him as they exited the observatory and began heading back toward Clock Town. Just when they reached the gate to Termina Field, however, Blaze stopped short upon seeing Frost already approaching, with Kafei not far behind him.

If he wasn't too busy feeling his own panic beginning to well up again and fighting the urge to run back into the observatory and lock the door, he might have felt the displeasure radiating off of Anju as she saw the pair approaching. Distantly, he heard Kafei say, "I'm sorry, but Ravio needs to talk to him. The rest of the group is at the Inn though. Viola said he didn't want to overwhelm him again."

Whatever Anju was going to say, Blaze interrupted by asking, "Viola? Is that what you're calling yourself now, _ Frost?" _

His twin looked taken aback, staring up the slight hill at him with absolute shock on his face. For a moment Blaze thought that maybe it was his tone that had him looking like that, but then he remembered: he wasn't wearing his mask. His scars were visible for the world to see, and for once, Blaze didn't care. Suddenly seeing Frost again after re-living the forest temple filled him with old, boiling rage.

"Blaze… What _ happened _ to you?"

"What _ happened _ to me?" Blaze repeated, indignant. "You _ left! _ After I _ told _ you to slow down! What do you care what _ happened _to me?"

Frost looked like he'd just been slapped, but he absolutely refused to feel bad about it. Not after the decisions _ Frost _ had made that led him here.

"I'm _ sor-" _

_ "Sorry doesn't cut it!" _ Blaze screeched, voice slightly hoarse as he fought back a new wave of frustrated tears. "Sorry isn't going to fix _ whatever _ happened to the Great Leima Stag! I don't know if _ you _ know this, but he _ wasn't cured _ after we fought him once! And I had to fight him again! _ Alone!" _

"I know _ that!" _ Frost yelled back, finally defending himself. "I heard about him going berserk again after I went back to the castle, I just thought–" Suddenly, he quieted down, like he had lost any energy he had left to shout. "I thought you had _ won. _ I thought you had just been too angry to talk to me, and eventually went back to the princess yourself." 

Blaze wanted to laugh at that, but he was shaking with hysteria and anger already, and the most he could do was grit his teeth in a furious grimace. He thought he’d _ won? _ As if _ any _ of them would’ve had the ability to overcome a spirit as powerful as the Great Leima Stag on their own? Did Frost somehow manage to _ forget _ that they’d barely been able to subdue him the _ first _ time? Angry words found their way to the tip of his tongue, along with the desire to throw the loss of Gust in his face yet again. They _ never _ could have defeated their guardian unless all three of them were present, and that was a _ fact. _

“But I just recently got to see what happened _ after _ that,” Frost continued, “A Lorule without a Triforce? Blaze, I thought you _ died.” _

His fury evaporated all at once, replaced by another cold hand of guilt around his heart at the words ‘without a Triforce.’ It felt like something was coiling in his stomach- the same sick kind of horror that had festered in him when the Garnet Rod had snapped in his hands, and it surely must have shown on his face when he asked, in a voice that was far smaller than before, “What?”

Frost looked at him with confusion, but realization soon dawned on him, and he said, “You don’t know?” He started taking a step forward, but Kafei stopped him before he could come much closer. He glanced back at Kafei, who just shook his head slightly, then back to Blaze, still being supported by Anju, and he let out a stressed sigh. _ “Please,_ Blaze. I’m sorry I didn’t listen before, but _ please _ tell me what happened. There are things we _ both _ need to know.”

Blaze hesitated. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know _ exactly _ what happened because he managed to ruin everything so badly, but now one of the few people who _ could _ hold him responsible was _ here. _

Anju must have noticed his internal conflict, because she quietly asked, “Are you alright? If you don’t want to, tell me, and Kafei and I can escort him back to Clock Town. But I think you should give him a chance. He apologized, and maybe he can understand what’s been bothering you more than I can.”

His eye flicked to Anju, to Frost and Kafei, then back again. “I-” he started, then cut himself off, swallowing hard, before trying again. “I can’t do this right now.” Frost looked like he was about to object, and Blaze begged, “Come back tomorrow. I’ll- I’ll _ probably _ be ready to talk then. Just give me the night. _ Please_.”

That, at least, seemed to be enough to satisfy his twin. Frost gave him another long look, but then nodded. “Okay. Fine. I’ll be back in the morning.” He started to turn around, but then glanced back once more and said, “Don’t hide from this. Please?”

“I won’t,” Blaze said, trying not to choke on his words. Frost nodded again, then turned and started heading back to Clock Town with Kafei. Once he was gone, Blaze’s shoulders sagged and he sighed heavily. Exhaustion weighed on him like a mountain, and he pulled away from Anju and mumbled, “I’m going back inside.”

All he wanted, after everything that had happened, was to crawl into bed and sleep for several days. Just that morning, he’d been having target practice with Romani; he hadn’t been prepared for six years’ worth of guilt to come crashing down on him all at once. He hadn’t been prepared to confront _ Frost. _ He was exhausted just from trying to keep up with it all, and he honestly wasn’t exactly pleased when Anju began following him back into the observatory. He just wanted to be left _ alone. _

At the very least though, she didn’t try to press him for answers. She didn’t demand an explanation for anything, didn’t force him to talk anything out, didn’t make him think any harder about what happened than he already was. Instead, she just stayed in the building with him, which he had to admit _ did _ help. He didn’t know what he might have done if it had just been him, alone with his thoughts in the large room that made up the telescope chamber.

At some point, Blaze succumbed to sleep. When he awoke again, he couldn't remember much from his dream, save for the haunting melody of slow string music. Though the sound unnerved him, whatever his dream had been allowed his sleep to be at least _ slightly _ restful; if he'd dreamt about the Earth Temple _ again, _ he likely would have been even more tired and stressed than before.

Anju must have left sometime after Blaze had fallen asleep, since he couldn't find her in the morning. He wished he could have properly thanked her for helping him before she’d left, but he could do that later. Maybe after Frost left, he could go back to Clock Town and thank both her and Kafei for their help.

It was then, right after Blaze had thought his name, that there was a knock at the door. Cold anxiety gripped his heart once again, and all he could do was stare at the door for a few seconds before shaking it off. He knew that Frost was going to be coming, he just hadn’t thought that he’d be there so _ soon. _

With a sigh, he got to his feet, donning his mask before going to let his twin into _ his _ observatory. When he opened the door, he couldn’t help but still feel thrown off at the sight of him even being _ there. _ Definitely older than he’d been the last time he’d seen him, but when the only time they’d been really _ together _ had been in a metaphysical space… It was still strange.

Frost seemed similarly jarred, and lingered outside for a moment before asking, “Can I come in?”

Blaze stepped aside, allowing him entry, and closed the door behind them. He turned and went back to the small living space that Kafei had helped him set up, gesturing for Frost to sit across from him, and asked, “What… What exactly did you mean yesterday? About how you got to _ see _ what happened after _ I _ left the Earth Temple?”

His twin had hardly sat down, and looked a little surprised at the question being asked so soon, “I think the bigger question is _ what happened? _ I don’t understand why you’re _ here _ and not in Lorule. What happened to your-”

“Well, _ I _ asked _ you _ first, so you should answer first,” Blaze interrupted, feeling childish but desperately trying to put off confessing his failure for as long as possible. His brother looked irritated, like he was about to call him out for avoiding the question, and Blaze’s voice cracked slightly as he said, “I swear I’ll tell you. Just tell me what _ you _ know first.”

“Fine,” Frost sighed, sounding exasperated. “It’s a bit complicated, but I guess the short of it is that we weren’t the first ones to wield the Sovereign Rod. There were heroes before us who did, who fought to protect Lorule just like we did. Those people you saw me with yesterday? Their names are all Ravio too.”

Blaze could only stare at Frost in confusion, and he honestly almost forgot that he was wearing the mask and that his twin couldn’t actually see his full expression. It led to a moment of awkward silence before Blaze asked, “How is that possible?”

Frost could only shrug. “How could you and I know each other when we were in different worlds? It was the will of the goddesses, I guess. But in any case, we just recently met someone who came from a Lorule after there had been a war for the Triforce and they hadn’t been able to hide it in the Sacred Realm. The king went ahead with his plan to shatter it instead of letting it fall into the wrong hands, just like Princess Hilda warned us.”

The one eye visible from behind Blaze’s mask looked horrified at that, and his mouth went dry. Anything he _ might _ have said died on his tongue, and Frost continued, “We only saw it after it started being rebuilt, but the things I’ve heard from Sketch… The world was falling apart. There were giant chasms, poisonous plants, rifts to a completely _ different _ world. I thought…” He paused, swallowing hard, before continuing, “I thought maybe that had been Gust’s world; but, apparently, there were history books in Lorule Castle’s library that stated that the hero of _ that _ world had disappeared after he’d ventured into the Cerevell Forest. That _ only _ could’ve been you.” 

Blaze felt lightheaded, and Frost’s eyes just kept boring holes into him. 

“Now _ tell me what happened.” _

“I…” Blaze trailed off, closing his eyes and trying to fight off his own absolute disgust with himself. When his visible eye opened again, it was glassy with despair as he finally admitted, “I _ failed, _ Frost.” He clenched his shaking hands into fists on his lap as the words came out like a flood. “I couldn’t defeat the Great Leima Stag. Not by myself. I didn’t… I couldn’t _ kill _ him. I could barely _ fight back. _ He charged right at me, and…” The words stuck in his throat, but Frost just kept _ staring _ at him. He remembered Frost as impulsive and impatient, and now he was just watching him expectantly, and it almost made Blaze even more terrified to admit the truth; but there was no going back now.

Blaze removed his mask, the scars on his face seeming to glow brighter in the dimness of the observatory, and choked out, “The Garnet Rod broke. Right in my face.”

With every second that Frost didn’t respond, Blaze felt his guilt grow exponentially. He couldn’t look his twin in the eyes, so he just stared at the table between them and tried to ignore the bright white that obscured half of his vision. It felt like an eternity before Frost finally broke the silence and asked, “I don’t under- _ Why didn’t you tell Princess Hilda?” _

_“What was I supposed to tell her? _That I _broke_ the legendary weapon that we _needed_ to seal the Sacred Realm once the Triforce was inside?” Blaze’s voice was strained and desperate as the hand that held his mask fell hard onto the table. “That the guardian of the Cerevell Forest might’ve _died_ in the explosion, but for some reason _I didn’t?”_ His other hand rose to his face, cupping over his eye as short nails dug into his forehead. “I couldn’t do it. I _couldn’t_ face her. Not when we were _so close_ and then I _failed.”_

Suddenly overcome with shame once again, Blaze put his head down on the table and buried it in his arms. “Some hero I turned out to be,” he mumbled. “Too much of a coward to even tell the princess that I fucked up her kingdom beyond repair.”

There was a longer silence after that. Blaze didn’t know what he expected, honestly. Well. He did. Immediate disgust, for one; Frost telling him that he really _ was _ just a failure and leaving, for another. What he _ didn’t _expect was a hand on his shoulder, which made him jump in surprise.

When he looked up from his arms, Frost was looking at him sympathetically and said, “Blaze, it’s not _ just _ your fault. If you fucked up, so did I, because you were right yesterday. I left you to deal with the Great Leima Stag alone. I _ should’ve _ stayed, and I’m _ so _ sorry I didn’t.”

While hearing that from Frost didn’t exactly ease his guilt, he _ did _ find his eyes started to sting as tears began to well up. He roughly brushed them away as he said, “That doesn’t change that _ I _decided to run away instead of face the princess.”

Frost shrugged, “You’re not the only one of us who couldn’t face her. And honestly, _ my _ Lorule ended up underwater because _ another _ war for the Triforce broke out. All _ I _ did was buy us some time.” Blaze just stared at him in confusion, and Frost continued, “It’ll make more sense if you come meet the rest of us. They’d tell their stories _ much _ better than I could.”

“I don’t see why you’d want some failure coming to meet your friends-”

“Stop that. Your name’s Ravio, isn’t it? You’re one of us, and your quest going wrong doesn’t change that, got it?” Frost said sternly, his grip on Blaze’s shoulder tightening slightly. When Blaze just started looking away, he shook him and repeated louder, _ “Got it?” _

_ “Fine,” _ Blaze said defeatedly, pushing his twin’s hand off of him. “I’ll come meet them, I guess.”

Frost offered a small smile at his agreement. “Good,” he said, and sat up straight again, pulling his arm back. “I know yesterday you heard someone call me Viola, and that’s mostly because - like with the three of us - having a bunch of people named Ravio in a group gets confusing.”

“Yeah? And you already had a nickname, so why not just go with Frost?”

“It didn’t feel right,” he said, looking almost embarrassed. “Not when it wasn’t you or Gust calling me it, so when they suggested something that went with our adventure, I just went with Viola.”

“Okay. So if you’re telling me that I need to pick my own name and we’re going with that logic, just call me Botch.”

“Blaze, we’re _ not _ going to call you that.”

“Runaway.”

“No.”

“Failure.”

_ “Blaze.” _

“If _ you _ don’t like any of my choices, why don’t _ you _ pick something?”

Frost groaned loudly, throwing his head back in frustration, when something seemed to occur to him. “This is an observatory, right?”

“Yeah?”

“How about Space?”

The first thing that popped into Blaze’s mind at that suggestion was, _ ‘I’m a waste of space,’ _ but he had enough sense not to voice that thought. “Fine. Whatever. That works, I guess.”

Frost chuckled to himself and said, “Well, guess now we’re Viola and Space.” Then his expression changed, and he looked like he’d just had an epiphany. “You know… You never told me _ how _ you got here.”

Blaze gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“How did you get here? To this place?”

“I used the viola,” he answered simply, still confused. “The song of flight brought me here when I played it to leave the temple.”

Frost jolted like he’d just been shocked, his hands smacking against the tabletop. “Do you still have it? Is it _ here?” _

“Yeah? Even _ I _ didn’t manage to break _ two _ legendary objects. It’s downstairs-”

Frost shot to his feet. “Go get it! We need to show it to the rest of the group! We might finally be able to control where we go if Warp can just look at it and see how it works!”

Much slower than his brother, and somewhat wary of his sudden excitement, Blaze got up and started going down the stairs to retrieve the Viola of Space.

He got the feeling that this group was going to be _ incredibly _ overwhelming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 80% of the reason I decided to post this now is bc I just took the LSAT yesterday and so if you wanna make me cry about something that ISNT that, pls comment and let me know what u think of this [finger guns]


	3. Rake Over Old Coals

The last name he had been called was Gust. But that was a long time ago.

It had been years since he’d been called anything at all. Months since the constant stream of monsters finally stopped. Since that disembodied voice promised him his freedom in exchange for killing the man he referred to as ‘the hero,’ only to fail when the time came.

So he had remained in that strange room, either forgotten or discarded, not that there was much difference between the two. It took days––maybe weeks, he couldn't be sure––for him to find the strength to move from the island with the tree and try one of the two doors. The splash of shallow water beneath his boots made him uneasy; passing over it had only reminded him of water closing over his head in some long-past nightmare, but his options were to either make the attempt to leave or accept his fate. Though he had little hope of returning to the home he could only distantly remember, he didn't want to die _ there. _

The first room he entered gave him pause for one reason: it was enclosed. Walls––true, solid _ walls–– _ wrapped around the room and a ceiling stretched overhead. Blue tiles, while still damp, were nothing like the shallows that filled the previous room. Gust found himself squinting to see in the suddenly dim light, but for the first time in a _ long _ time, it was _ dark. _ The unending brightness of that vacant, misty room was behind him, and now that he was out, he _ never _ wanted to return.

He passed through that room slowly, maneuvering around traps and climbing over obstacles in order to reach a small corridor on the adjacent wall. The corridor opened into a long, cavernous room––the size of which initially alarmed him––but he could still see the opposite side; it was _ not _ an endless expanse of _ nothing. _ How could it be, when a cascade of water was shaking the floor beneath his feet? The sound was near-deafening, especially compared to the pure silence that he had grown so accustomed to, yet he made no move to cover his ears. It was another sign that he was _ out. _ He might not be _ entirely _ free, but the sight of walls and the sound of moving water was a vast improvement from overwhelming emptiness.

Yet he still felt too close to it. The floor that he had stepped out onto dropped off only a short distance from the door, beneath which a waterfall flowed into an empty abyss. Platforms descended slowly toward a door on the other side of the room, but there was a considerable gap between the waterfall and the distant ledge. Certainly, too large a distance to jump.

But perhaps not too large for a different skill.

Gust dropped down onto the next platform that emerged from the floor. The feeling of moving without walking was odd, but he tried to focus on gauging the distance between himself and the door, even if it would still take a few seconds to reach the closest point. He would have to time it correctly if he wanted the highest chance of making it, and he _ very _ much wanted to avoid falling into… wherever all the water was going.

Once the platform appeared to be just higher than the door’s ledge, Gust jumped, closing his eyes as he called on the ability that he dreamed had been called the Blessing of Pavhalla. Wind rushed past his ears and pushed against his back as he ran forward and leaped, propelled forward by the magical wind behind him. His landing was not graceful––more like a crash when his knees gave out and hit the floor _ hard–– _but he had made it.

He proceeded into another large, water-filled chamber, but this one did not have a waterfall; nor did it have shallow, yet seemingly-bottomless water like before, but _ deep _ water. Fish swam around in it, which he had been able to catch and eat once his small food supply had run out. He could see them come in and out through a tunnel on one side of the room, which led him to believe that it might be a way to _ leave _ this place, but… he would have to go in.

He couldn’t go in the water. He could jump from the first platform he’d emerged on to the ledge that encircled the central structure and he could reach in to catch a fish that came too close to the edge, but he could _ not _ fully immerse himself. Something would grab him, pull him under, _ drown him- _

He _ wouldn’t _ go in the water.

Time didn't get any more meaning with the change in environment. Though there was no longer a shroud of mist for light to glare off of, there was no shift in brightness to indicate the passage of days. Just as before, he measured time by when he ate, but that task was made far easier by a few new factors: the walls and the water. Having something truly _ solid _ beneath his feet and behind his back was both grounding and reassuring––nothing could sneak up behind him––and though he feared the water, watching the fish swimming beneath it was more activity than he'd seen in... quite some time. He may have had to fight to survive before, but once that stopped, there had been nothing but the mist and the too-still water.

The fish were honestly a comforting sight. As long as he was leaning against the solid surface of the central pillar, their slow, steady movements could even be called relaxing. Which, of course, was why it was so alarming when he caught a glimpse of something much _ bigger _ than a fish swim through the underwater entrance. No fish in this place had ever had such bright colors as that purple and red blur, but it zipped by so quickly that he hadn't the slightest idea what it could be. Pressing close to the pillar, Gust held his breath as it passed behind the stonework, not daring to even move. There was still a chance that he hadn't been noticed by this strange thing, and if he'd learned anything in this place, it was that anything abnormal could only be bad. His heart pounded in his chest as his eyes darted back and forth across the water and ears strained for anything _ else _ out of the ordinary.

Nothing.

Nothing for several long, tense minutes.

_ Splash. _

Something broke the surface. Gust waited for some indication of where it might be going next, only to be surprised by a _ voice _ echoing around the chamber. "There's nothing down below except some weird spiky monsters that don't look like they can swim up here. Did you find anything?"

"I sure did, Captain Sparklefins. But I don't feel like repeating myself, so let's get back to the others first."

_ “Are you kidding? _Vex, it’ll take like ten seconds, just-”

“I _ said,” _ the second voice harshly cut in, “Let’s get _ back.” _

There was a short beat of silence before the first voice said, “Fine,” and that was the last Gust heard. He dared to peek around the corner and saw only the blur of red swimming back out through the same passage it had entered from, and for the moment he let out the breath he’d been holding.

His mind raced to establish the facts. It was obvious that one of the voices––the one called Vex––had seen him. Gust didn't know how they could have without his noticing, especially since he had only heard a single thing break the surface of the water, but he couldn't dwell on that for long. What mattered was that there were others. Those two who had just been present were going to tell others that Gust was here. Presumably, the two would return _ with _ those others, and he couldn't be sure of their intentions. The last person who had entered this place had nearly killed him. These people would likely do the same.

Since his fight with the man in blue, Gust hadn’t had reason to pick up his sword and shield again. He still had them, of course, since he hadn’t been sure what he would find outside of his previous prison, but he didn’t like to _ carry _ them. So he left them leaning on the central wall, on the side facing the door that he’d first emerged from. Naturally, it didn’t exactly take long to pick them up and prepare to defend himself, but he still moved quickly so he might be able to hide around the second corner and catch whoever entered by surprise.

It was another several minutes before any different sounds arrived again. He heard someone take a breath, like it had been held for a while, and someone ask, "How did you _ do _ that?"

"That's not important. Vex, where did you see that person?"

Gust knew that voice. Why did he know that voice? Why did it feel like he'd heard that impatient, conversation-ending tone before? _ Who was that? _

"Nice, Viola. Announce the fact we know he's here to the world, why don't you?"

“We aren’t here for_ stealth! Where did you see him?” _

“Alright, _ alright. _ He was right around there.”

Gust could hear footsteps now. Drips of water too, getting closer and closer, until they sounded right around the corner.

His dark metal blade struck against a bright silver rod, but it wasn’t the staff that caught Gust’s eye, nor was it the violet hair or wide green eyes that were staring at him with pure shock.

It was the blue tunic that he wore.

Fear sent Gust stumbling back, trying desperately to compose himself to continue his fight, but this was one he’d _ already lost. _If the man in blue had come back to finish him, how could he possibly hope to win on this far-more-limited space? An incomprehensible sound rang in his ears as he struggled to think through the cloud of panic. What was different now from last time? Space was much more limited from before. This water was deep, and he couldn't stand on it like he could on the water in that other place. What was the likelihood of the man in blue being able to walk on the water when he couldn't? He hoped he could count on their capabilities being the same. And if they were both confined to this single platform, then the reach of that ornate spear of his would be less an advantage than it would be otherwise. If he could just get in close enough, then maybe...

Another blur of movement caught his eye from the opposite side. A second man––about the same size and build as the first and wearing that same dreaded_ blue _––rounded the corner, an arrow already nocked in a bow. 

Gust’s panic _ doubled _. 

Two opponents this time? What if one was an illusion? What if he attacked the wrong one and the other finished him off? Was there a point to fighting the man anymore? He could hardly remember home, so how would he kno–

His thoughts came to a screeching halt when one of the two men stepped closer, and on instinct Gust lashed out. The one with the bow stumbled back with a shout, and this time he actually heard what the other one said.

“Blaze!”

Blaze..? Blaze. _ Blaze. _ He _ knew _ that name. He hadn't heard it in what felt like an eternity, but he _ knew _ it.

_ 'Wait a second, Blaze has a point.' _

_ 'Come on, Blaze, we need to keep moving!' _

_ 'Blaze, for Mun's sake––just light the stupid torches already!' _

He knew that name... but how could the man in blue know it?

“I’m fine!” The man with the bow called back. He glanced back toward the side with the entrance and said, “Don’t come over here, we’ve got this!”

Gust was breathing heavily as he stepped forward to attack the archer again, only for a new person to appear around the corner with _ yet another weapon. _ This man wasn’t in blue, but he wielded a _ terrifyingly _ familiar green rod with a crackling orb of yellow light at its top. Gust felt like he was seeing his dreams in reality. Perhaps he _ was _dreaming. Perhaps this was some strange nightmare, in which someone who held the Amethyst Rod was attacking him with twin versions of the man in blue.

Before he could determine if this was real or not, gleaming silver metal descended before his eyes and pressed his arms tightly against his chest. The first man he’d seen had trapped him between his spear and himself, effectively immobilizing Gust’s arms as he forced him to turn away from the other two. 

“Goddesses _ above, _ he said _ don’t come over here! _ Blaze, get us out of here!” Gust struggled to maneuver either his shield between himself and the spear so he could break free or his sword to a position where he could attack despite his disadvantage, but more terrifying familiarity gave him pause when the man––more softly but still harsh with exertion––hissed, “Gust, what are you _ doing? _ It’s _ us!” _

His panicked breaths caught in his throat like a stilted gasp. His sword nearly slipped from his fingers before he realized he might lose his only defense, but he couldn't think quickly enough to keep up with every question that flooded his mind. How did he know his name? Why did he know _ Blaze’s _ name? Why did he know _ any _ of this? He wanted to dismiss it all as a dream, but the rod that was pressing into his chest felt so _ real. _ He wanted to escape this fight––escape these _ people–– _ but where would he go? Back to his previous prison-room with no walls and no true floor? They would likely find him there even if he _ could _ escape this platform, which in _ itself _ seemed unlikely.

Some insane instinct drove him to respond, but he hadn’t spoken in so long. He couldn’t remember the last person who had directly addressed him. The last person who hadn’t been a disembodied voice, of course. Trying to speak was like trying to break through a barrier, and the best response Gust could manage was more like a strained breath, which wasn’t much of an answer at all.

His struggle to escape from the first man’s grip was interrupted yet again when he heard _ another _ dreamlike sound––a long-forgotten melody that returned to him at the first note. 

He knew that song. That song was supposed to take him to his brothers, and even if that dream _ was _ real, he'd lost the Viola of Space and it wouldn't work-

The magic took hold. Gust felt his stomach lurch like he was falling from some great height, and when he opened his eyes, he was somewhere else. Somewhere else that he _ knew, _but only from a distant memory. Similar bluish-gray walls to where he’d been, but there were different carvings on the walls, deep cracks in the floors, and not a drop of water to be seen. His rapid breaths puffed in front of him in tiny clouds, and frost shimmered on the floor.

He knew this place. But why was he _ there? _

The instant he felt the spear across his chest move, Gust lifted his shield and pushed it away more quickly, darting away a short distance before turning to face both men in blue. He crouched behind his shield, primed to leap out of the way if necessary while still trying to be less of a target for the archer. The one with the spear took a step closer, but stopped when Gust raised his sword as a warning.

“Gust… what’s _ wrong _ with you?”

He could feel his sword hand tremble as his confusion grew. Still, he knew if he wanted to understand anything, he would have to answer. _ "How..." _ The word felt like it was clawing its way from his throat and all the next would do the same, but he forced them out regardless. Gust was no stranger to pain, even if this form was less familiar than others. He swallowed hard, grimacing against the scratching feeling, and repeated, "How... know... name..?"

Both of them looked confused, and they shared a glance with each other before the one with the bow said, “What do you mean? Gust, it’s _ us–– _Blaze and Frost.”

_"No!"_ Gust shook his head and closed his eyes tightly. Stupid to take your eyes off of an enemy, but his vision was blurring anyway. His tone was insistent, though the weak raspiness of his voice surely wasn't going to convince anyone of _anything._ _"Gone! _I kill blue... I go home!" Gust's voice faltered on the last word, as did his resolve. His throat began to feel thick, and his last words came in a barely audible murmur. _"I... wanna go home."_

There was a brief moment of silence before Gust heard the sound of rustling fabric. When he opened his eyes, the man with the staff had covered the blue tunic he’d worn with a purple coat. Without the blue to distract him, he could see the many other differences between the original man in blue and _ these _ ones. The first one had blue eyes and blond hair, but this one had green and violet. He didn’t have a sword or shield, just his spear, which had a glowing blue stone enclosed by its tip. Blue magic… Frost used blue ice magic, hadn’t he? That had been how he’d gotten his name.

The other man in blue hadn’t changed, but a shooing motion from the first one––the one that… could be Frost… _ maybe–– _ had him rushing toward one of the doors of the temple. Frost laid his staff on the ground and rose to his feet again, never taking his eyes off of Gust. “I promise, Gust,” he started, taking a slow step toward him again. “I _ am _ Frost. We don’t know anything about your mission to kill... blue, but neither Blaze nor I am that person. We’re sorry we scared you by showing up like that, Blaze will be back in his usual clothes in a minute. Can you put your sword down?”

Gust’s eyes darted between Frost and his staff. The question in his mind wasn’t whether he believed that this was Frost or not anymore, but rather could he believe this was _ real. _ How many coincidences and features of the dreamlike memories he’d imagined so many times could he face before he had to accept that they were real? Or, at the very least, some dream that finally brought all of them together?

The same door that the second man––was it _ really _ Blaze?––had gone through opened once again, and he returned in similarly colored clothes to Frost, though in a different, unfamiliar style. Their hair was identical, just like it was in his distant, vague memories, but only one of Blaze’s eyes was visible behind his mask. As he came closer, Gust managed a short, questioning, _ “Mask?” _

Blaze stopped, suddenly tensed. He glanced at Frost, having to turn his head slightly more than Gust would have initially thought, but his brother only shrugged. With a heavy sigh, Blaze said, “It covers a weird scar, but I’ll take it off if you really want me to.” Gust simply kept staring at him silently, and Blaze sighed again and lifted his hand to his mask.

Though the glowing scar made it somewhat difficult to discern half of Blaze’s face now, it was at the very least obvious that the two were _ identical _ in every other way. They were simply… older. _ Years _ older than they had been when Gust had last seen them. When Gust had last _ been _ in this Ice Temple. How long had he been in that other place? Was he just as old? He didn’t _ feel _ like he was. Could he _ really _ have lost so much time in those constant, unchanging environments?

His sword fell to the ground with a loud, metallic _ clang. _ His shield followed soon after. Frost didn’t waste a second in rushing forward to pull Gust properly into his arms––an action that won a startled squeak. He hadn’t been touched in so _ long; _ or, at least, not in any _ positive _ way. It was cold in the ice temple and Frost’s embrace was so _ warm, _ but he still felt overwhelmed by sensations. _ “I’m sorry,” _ Frost whispered, his voice tight. _ “I’m sorry I left. We didn’t have a choice, but-” _

Blaze’s hand on Frost’s shoulder stopped their brother’s litany before it could begin in earnest. “We found him, Frost,” he said. “He’s _ alive _ and we _ found him. _That has to count for something.”

Frost nodded. “And I’m not letting _ anything _ like that happen again. You’re _ safe _ now, understand? Neither of us is going to let _ anything _hurt you again.”

Gust wasn’t sure how much he believed that, but honestly, he wasn’t entirely sure how much he believed that all of this wasn’t just some crazy, incredible dream. But considering the circumstances… when Frost pulled Blaze into the hug, sandwiching Gust between the two of them… he could at least allow himself to enjoy it while it lasted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last... the Tripartite series is done! The triplets are together again. Maybe a little worse for wear, but hey! There's more Story to come. These are just snippets c; Just wait 'til you see what else we have in store!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> *sips drink* im not sorry
> 
> stay tuned for more of me hurting the vos triplets


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